Sheriff scales back search for Logan Co. escapee PARIS (AP) — Logan County Sheriff Steve Smith says he’s scaling back the search for an escapee from the county jail. Smith told the Times Record Tuesday that he wants to interview friends and relatives of Gary Patrick Topham to find out if anyone has seen him. The 49-year-old Topham escaped the jail shortly after noon Monday by climbing a chain-link fence that’s topped with razor wire. Authorities say they believe he cut himself and is bleedin...

Sheriff: 4 dead after car hits treeYELLVILLE (AP) — Authorities in northern Arkansas say four young people are dead after a car struck a tree in Marion County. Sheriff Roger Vickers says 21-year-old Kayla Willis was driving home from a basketball game on Monday evening with her stepbrothers, 14-year-old Nolan Andrews and 12-year-old William Andrews, and a neighbor, 12-year-old Nicholas Love, when she struck a tree head on. Vickers says the car burst into flames, and that Willis...

Revenue remains up in October LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Arkansas’ October tax revenues beat expectations and those of the same month last year, although they may not reflect yet the impact of last month’s partial federal government shutdown on state coffers, finance officials said Monday. The state Department of Finance and Administration reported that Arkansas’ net available revenue for October totaled $372.8 million, which was $17.2 million more than October 2012 and $8.1 above...

Conway hospital looking for financial partner CONWAY (AP) — The board of Conway Regional Medical Center is seeking a partner for the hospital as a way of providing financial stability and expanded services as health care systems are changing nationwide. The independent community hospital said Thursday many other providers in similar situations are also looking for health systems to merge with as a way to bring in more people with expertise and provide a broader range of patient services, ...

2 dead in plane crash SPRINGDALE (AP) — Authorities say two Camden residents are dead after their small plane crashed in northwest Arkansas. The plane crashed Friday evening about two miles from the Springdale airport after the pilot reported the aircraft was low on fuel. The Washington County Sheriff’s Department on Saturday identified the dead as 72-year-old Searcy W. Harrell, who was the pilot, and 71-year-old Ruth Ann Hudson, a passenger. The agency says the bo...

2 wounded in family shooting in Little Rock LITTLE ROCK (AP) — Police in Little Rock say a man opened fire during a family dispute and wounded his mother and grandfather. Authorities say the grandfather, 76-year-old James Bledsoe, was gravely wounded early Saturday and was being treated at St. Vincent Health System. The suspect’s mother, 45-year-old Jacqueline Bledsoe, was taken to Baptist Health for treatment of non-life threatening injuries. Police say the suspect, 25-year-old Justin ...

Woman survives night in barbed wire after crash WILTON (AP) — A 75-year-old woman spent 12 hours atop downed barbed wire after her vehicle veered off a southwest Arkansas road when she became disoriented driving home from an evening church service. Authorities in Little River County said Nina Hinton was taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries that were not life-threatening after she was rescued Thursday morning. Sherry Hendrix and J.T. Harris, who live near where Hinton’s car left the...

Trial set in ExxonMobil state, federal lawsuit LITTLE ROCK (AP) — A federal judge has set a trial date for a lawsuit by the state of Arkansas and federal prosecutors against ExxonMobil Pipeline Company and Mobil Pipeline Company. U.S. District Judge James Moody on Thursday scheduled a pre-trial conference on the lawsuit for Feb. 23, 2015 and the trial to start the following day. Moody also set deadlines for various motions and reports to be filed during 2014 in advance of the trial. The la...

Court grants new hearing for death row inmateLITTLE ROCK (AP) — An Arkansas prisoner who was condemned to die for the 1997 rape and murder of a mall security guard won a new hearing Thursday. The state Supreme Court ordered a new hearing for Andrew Engram because it said a lower court erred in dismissing his petition for post-conviction relief. “Under the facts and circumstances of this case, and considering the finality of punishment at issue, we hold that the circuit court erred in sum...

Sentencing delayed in SAU horse theft case MAGNOLIA (AP) — Sentencing has been delayed until December for a former Southern Arkansas University student who pleaded guilty to stealing horses from the school’s stables. Jaci Jackson pleaded guilty earlier this year to six counts of conspiracy to commit theft of property. Prosecutors claim that Jackson hatched a plan to steal the horses from the university, where she was on the rodeo team. The horses were discovered in Oklahoma — and one o...

Trial scheduled for Fort Smith man in shooting FORT SMITH (AP) — A January trial date has been set for a Fort Smith man charged in the shooting death of a woman as she rode in a van. Prosecutors say 24-year-old Jonathan Lewis Jackson shot into a van carrying seven people on Dec. 29, killing 21-year-old Aleya Criswell. Jackson has pleaded not guilty and remains jailed on $250,000 bond. The Times Record reported that Sebastian County Circuit Court Judge Michael Fitzhugh has scheduled Jackson...

Veterans home cited for 3rd time in 2013FAYETTEVILLE (AP) — Investigators cited the Arkansas State Veterans Home in Fayetteville for violating procedures for the third time this year — this time for a failure to treat a patient’s wound properly. Arkansas’ Office of Long Term Care said that, for several days in late September and early October, when the patient’s dressing was changed twice daily the skin would tear and the patient would bleed. Eventually the home changed the way it t...

Death penalty sought in Conway slaying CONWAY (AP) — Prosecutors say they’ll seek the death penalty against a Morrilton man accused of shooting a man to death at a Conway motel. At a hearing Wednesday, prosecutors said they will seek death for Lee Foster, who’s charged with capital murder in the June 16 shooting death of 23-year-old Quenton Alexander. Foster is also charged with first-degree battery after a second man was wounded in the shooting in the parking lot of a Motel 6. Aut...

US court won’t take up Mann bombing caseLITTLE ROCK — The U.S. Supreme Court indicated it won’t review the case of an Arkansas doctor sentenced to life in prison for plotting a bombing that nearly killed the chairman of the state’s medical board. The one-sentence denial was filed Wednesday in the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of Randeep Mann. Mann asked the high court in June to consider his case, less than two months after he was sentenced to life in prison for the ...

Democrats ask for ethics probe of Tom CottonLITTLE ROCK (AP) — The Arkansas Democratic Party asked an outside congressional office to investigate whether U.S. Rep. Tom Cotton illegally solicited contributions for his Senate bid during a radio interview at the U.S. Capitol last month. The state party sent a complaint to the Office of Congressional Ethics over a Sept. 30 phone interview Cotton gave to talk radio host Hugh Hewitt. During the interview, Cotton said supporters could visit hi...

HP wraps up layoffs at Conway facility CONWAY (AP) — Hewlett-Packard Co. is wrapping up the layoffs at its Conway facility announced earlier this year. An HP official told the Log Cabin Democrat employees laid off this month were among the 500 who learned in July that they’d be losing their jobs. The company says there are no other “planned actions” for HP workers in Conway. With the layoffs, HP still employs about 800 people at its customer support center in Conway. The company ha...

Canner Allens files for bankruptcySILOAM SPRINGS (AP) — Arkansas-based Allens Inc. filed paperwork Monday seeking to reorganize its debts under federal bankruptcy laws and said it wants to sell what’s left of its frozen vegetables business so it can focus on canned goods. Allens listed debts of at least $100 million in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, Arkansas Business reported Monday (http://bit.ly/1aBD7sq ). Such filings, once approved, let companies and individuals reorgan...

Former teacher given 10-year term for sex assaultLITTLE ROCK (AP) — An ex-teacher at an all-girls school who had been sentenced to four months in jail for having a sexual relationship with a student was sentenced to 10 years in prison Monday after admitting she ignored a judge’s order to not contact the teenager. Pulaski County Circuit Judge Barry Sims, who initially suspended nearly all of a 15-year prison term for sexual assault, told Kelly O’Rourke that he had to come down “pretty hard” o...

Clown accused of child porn pleads guilty FORT SMITH (AP) — A Fort Smith man who worked as a clown has pleaded guilty to receiving child pornography. The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas announced Monday that 48-year-old Thomas Harold Morgan pleaded guilty to the charge. Authorities said Morgan used his computer to download a picture of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct. Morgan faces a minimum sentence of five years and a maximum sentence of 20 years. He ...

Lawyer: Man sentenced to death wins new trial LITTLE ROCK (AP) — An Arkansas man who was sentenced to death for a 1997 double slaying won a new trial Tuesday, his attorney said. Judge Charles Yeargan granted a new trial for Timothy Howard during a court appearance in Ashdown, according to one of Howard's attorneys, Patrick Benca. Yeargan's decision comes after Arkansas' highest court ordered a new hearing in the case last year. The state Supreme Court sided in part with Howard's attorneys...